(Jan 2014) \u00a0Chapter 1 ‘The Tape’ \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=2454<\/p>\n
(Jan 2014) \u00a0Chapter 2 \u00a0‘The Tape’ \u00a0– \u00a0Searching for Xoon \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 h<\/span>ttp:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=2500<\/span><\/p>\n (May 2014) \u00a0Chapter 3 \u00a0‘The Tape’ \u00a0– \u00a0A Visit with Chief Chuckwalla \u00a0 \u00a0https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=2776<\/span><\/p>\n (July 2014) \u00a0Chapter 4 \u00a0‘The Tape’ – Oh Where the Trap Door Leads \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=2807<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coachella Valley<\/p><\/div>\n Chief Chuckwalla<\/strong>, with moist eyes, seemed a million miles away as he continued to stare out into the valley, trying to decide exactly where to begin to tell this story.<\/p>\n He finally began, \u201cEveryone knows the story of slavery in America\u2019s south, the slave traders<\/strong> gabbing black men and women from Africa<\/strong> and bringing them to America to sell; the cruelty that took place on the plantations<\/strong> and the attendant racism<\/strong>. But few people know of the slavery that took place right here long before America was ever colonized. It began when the Spanish conquistador, Cortez<\/strong> defeated the Aztecs<\/strong> in the early 1500\u2019s which allowed the Spanish<\/strong> to rule what is now Mexico<\/strong> and the southwestern part of the United States<\/strong> for the next 300 years<\/strong>. The Spanish not only took our land, but they enslaved the Inviatim<\/strong> people to work it for them. The Spanish rancheros<\/strong> were the predecessors to southern plantations. They told us that our gods and beliefs were all wrong, that Christianity<\/strong> was the only true religion. In fact they used the word \u2018Cahuilla\u2019<\/em><\/strong> to describe our tribe \u2013 a word that means heathen<\/em>. We were told that we would suffer if we didn\u2019t convert. And they made us suffer.<\/p>\n (Don: Ahhh, don\u2019t ya just love organized religion?\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n The chief continued, \u201cThose who either refused to work on the rancheros or refused to convert to Christianity<\/strong> were beaten, blindfolded, tied up and dragged behind horses to this place and imprisoned. Many of them died here, including my great, great grandmother.<\/p>\n \u201cSo those were their remains in the cells?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n Palkara<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cNo.\u201d the chief replied, I could see he was struggling to get the story out. \u201cMy great, great grandfather, Palkara<\/strong> and their daughter, Meeka<\/strong>, managed to escape from this Hellhole<\/strong>. Several days after his escape, Palkara formed a posse and, now knowing the location of this secret underground prison, returned in the dead of night and attacked and killed the guards and freed hundreds of prisoners. Unfortunately he was killed in the attack. The Inviatim prisoners<\/strong>, who were released, moved south and established their village by what is now the Salton Sea<\/strong>, but at that time was a beautiful freshwater lake fed by the Colorado River<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cMeeka<\/strong>, who was only about 10 when she and her father escaped, grew to be a very independent and strong-willed woman, who was determined to find a way to get back at the Spanish<\/strong> for killing her mother and father. As she grew older, she would often returned to this place just to remind herself of what happened here and to keep her resolve for revenge. She ultimately decided that she was going to use this Hellhole to exact that revenge. She convinced a small but courageous group of Inviatim tribe members to join in her crusade.<\/p>\n Meeka<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cIt was in the late 1700s<\/strong> and the white man was now just starting to push the Spanish and Mexicans<\/strong> out and take over more and more of the southwest region. Most, if not all, of the Spaniards who took the Inviatim\u2019s<\/strong> land and imprisoned and killed their people were now dead or gone. But Meeka\u2019s<\/strong> desire for revenge needed to be quenched. She painstakingly found the names of those leaders responsible for imprisoning her people and killing her parents. She then located their children, or children\u2019s children, many of whom were still living in the area and were now adults. Systematically, one by one, she kidnapped<\/strong> and imprisoned<\/strong> them here, locked the place up tighter than a drum and left them to die. It is their<\/em> bones that remain down there now.\u201d<\/p>\n I sat silently for a long time, in awe of the story I had just heard and finally said, \u201cThat is an amazing story; so what happened to Meeka<\/strong>?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To be continued . . .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow (As a refresher, as well as for those new to the blog, the links below are to the previous chapters of ‘The Tape’, an allegorical tale of searching, with cameo appearances from beyond from my dear departed … read more![\"Coachella-Valley\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Coachella-Valley.jpg\")
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